


Broken, You Can't Heal Me

by KatWrech



Series: Broken [1]
Category: Home (2015)
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, Character Death, F/M, Healing, Sad, Short Chapters, Short work, There might be an sequel, Three chapters, at least I think so, if people are interested in it, or an epilouge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-08-01
Packaged: 2018-10-18 18:32:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10622679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatWrech/pseuds/KatWrech
Summary: In which Boov can feel happy feelings -all of them- but they come with consequences.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first go at writing Tip, hooray for me! This whole thing was real fun to write, honestly. It came to me... in a dream... joking, joking. My class was having swimming class and I couldn't participate, so I thought "yolo" and drew Oh. He turned out really fucking creepy and in the end he had cracks all over his body. One of his smelling things was missing. And so, this was born!
> 
> Yeah, and Oh is lying, but he believes in what he says- which is why he doesn't turn green!

Tip found him crying, curled into a ball on her bed. “Oh?” she spoke softly, stepping into the room.

                He gave a startled sound and hastily dried away some tears, hiding his right hand behind his back. “T-Tip…” he muttered, and new tears welled up in his eyes.

                “Oh!” Tip said, startled, and rushed over to him. “Are you okay?”

                He didn’t meet her gaze when he slowly shook his head. “No, I am not.”

                That was all she needed. She crawled into the bed and drew him close to her, hugging him tightly. “What’s wrong?” she whispered, closing her eyes.

                Some time passed where he just hugged her back, tighter than she hugged him, silently crying into her shoulder. Then he answered. “I am dying.”

                Tip froze, and all color disappeared from her face. Her heart sped up and a sound like rushing water was deafening her. “…what,” she said, her voice spiky and torn. Oh tore himself away from her.

                “I am dying,” he repeated, still not looking at her.

                “Why?” Tip asked, eyes blown wide, fear sneaking up on her and clawing at her heart. “Why are you dying!?”

                Slowly, ever so slowly, he held his right hand out for inspection. There-

                there was a crack in it.

                There was a crack in Oh’s hand.

                The skin looked dry, way too dry, and there was a _crack. in Oh’s. hand._

He wasn’t bleeding or anything, it was simply just a crack in his hand, as if he was- drying out, or made of porcelain or something-

                “Oh?” she said shakily. “Can we stop this?”

                Tears filled his eyes again, his skin turning dark, dark blue, the darkest color she’d ever seen him wear. It was nearly black. “No,” he whispered. “We cannot. It will do the spreading, until it is hitting my heart.”

                “Where’s your heart?” Tip asked, pushing away emotions for just a little while more. She had to know. She had to know how long her best friend had left to live. “Oh, where’s your heart!?”

                He silently placed a hand on the round pocket almost in the middle of his Boov tunic. “It is spreading fast,” he whispered emotionlessly.

                Tip cried. She held him to her chest for hours, although he still didn’t look at her.

                And she was crying, her throat sore, her eyes red and stinging.

                Crying because she would lose him.

                She had no words to describe the feeling she felt, but if she tried, she would compare it to a volcano in her heart, spitting lava and pain and hurt and sorrow throughout her body. In the end, she could feel the sadness and desperation out into her fingers and toes.

                “No,” she whispered when neither she nor Oh had any more tears left. “No!”

                And a cracking noise echoed through the room. Tip sat up and yanked Oh’s hand to her. Carefully, mind you, of course she was careful he was _dying for god’s sake-_ The crack was deeper, now, and it had spread further across his palm.

                New tears fell from Tip’s eyes. “I don’t want to lose you,” she whispered harshly. “Not again!”

                Another cracking noise, and Tip gave a loud gasp, falling backwards and crawling away from him, almost falling out of the bed. “Is it me?” she cried. This had to stop, she had to stop it, she couldn’t lose him, not now, not when she had just realized- “Am I doing it!?” she yelled.

                Oh looked almost embarrassed when he frowned in sadness. “No,” he said. His skin turned green and the embarrassed look changed to an even sadder one.

                She _was_ -! _It was **her, she** was doing this oh god, oh god, oh god- _“Then I will stay away from you,” Tip declared wildly, not caring about the fact that he lied. She took another step backwards, away from the bed. Maybe it would help if she isolated herself, she reasoned. If she was doing it she would run away or something, he _had to live-_!

                The Boov’s eyes widened in both shock and fear. A new cracking sound, and whatever it was that was killing him begun its decent up his arm. He winced in pain and hissed lightly. “It does not mattering, Tip,” he tried desperately, putting his good hand over the crack, as if trying to hide it. “It will not help if you are staying away, it will only get worse!”

                Tip gritted her teeth and sobbed as she realized she couldn’t do anything. Anything at _all,_ to save his life. She threw herself onto the bed again and took her best friend into her arms.

                And a new crack appeared.


	2. The Secret's Out

 

*

 

Tip couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to! Of course she wanted to fall asleep, get a little break, you know? A break from the pain, from the sorrow.

                But… no.

                She was tired, exhausted even, but _she still couldn’t fall asleep_.

                So obviously, she was doing something sensible, like reading a book or cleaning her room. She was definitely _not_ watching her best friend sleep. No. Nope. Not at all.

                She sighed and placed her face in her hands, drawing a shaky breath of despair. He looked so peaceful. Did Boovs dream? If they did, Tip didn’t think Oh was doing it now. Every now and then his skin would flash blue, he’d whimper, and then calm down again. Did that count as dreaming? Or was it just feelings?

                How did this happen? When had it happened? Why was she causing it, or making it worse? Why would it become even _worse_ if she stayed away? Was this all her fault? Could she actually blame someone? Did this happen to other Boovs? Was it true that she couldn’t stop it, hinder it, or slow it down? Well, Oh hadn’t turned green, so he couldn’t be lying, right?

                Tip sighed again. Oh had refused to answer all of these questions when she had asked.

                Her eyes drifted from his peaceful, sleeping face to his right arm. The sickness had taken over the whole thing now. It was a network of cracks, almost like a spider web. The difference was that it was possible to remove a spider web. This? Not so much. It had reached his shoulder. _Already_ , Oh had said in surprise/shock/fear/sadness. She wasn’t quite sure which one it was, and his skin refused to give it away.

                Though he’d refused to answer a lot of her questions, there was one he _did_ answer. _Will it go straight for your heart?_

                His answer was vague, though, and she couldn’t get that much from it. _It depends_. It didn’t seem like it was moving towards his heart, and Tip wasn’t sure if she was happy or sad at the fact.

                For a short moment, the sleeping Boov’s skin flashed pink. Another crack and a wince from Oh. The pink color disappeared again. It was obvious that it was painful for him, and the more cracks, the more painful it was.

                Was she selfish to hope that it would take his heart last? Probably.

                But at this rate, he would die in a few days if the sickness went straight for his heart. If not, it might take a week, perhaps two if they were… lucky? Unlucky?

                Tip’s lip started to quiver, and she began crying silently. Desperately.

                When the first rays of sunshine forced themselves into the room, her eyes finally closed and she succumbed to sleep.

 

*

 

Oh held a speech later that day, in the Boov Mothership. It was broadcasted over all of Earth to all residing Boovs, as well as to all Boovphones out there. There were many tears among the Boovs when her friend neared the end of it.

                He seemed so serene when he spoke; as if he couldn’t care less whether he lived or died, even though his skin was dark, dark blue. But Tip knew him, almost better than he knew himself –almost, mind you, almost- and she could tell that he was upset. Incredibly upset, and sad, and horrified.

                And- and scared. He was scared.

                But it wasn’t the same kind of fear as the one he’d felt when they started their adventure together. No. This was… different, much rawer, so much more _forceful,_ it was a fear that ate up all hope and light and happiness inside.

                The speech was in Boovspeak, and Tip wasn’t sure if she was relieved or not. She wasn’t sure what to make out of all the Boovs throwing glances in her direction either, but no one said anything and she didn’t dare ask Oh.

 

*

 

“Oh.”

                The Boov turned around to face her with a sad expression.

                “Is this normal for Boovs? To crack up and _die_?”

                That’s right, Tip, yes, ignore your emotions, yes, good, good, make it seem like you don’t care-

                Oh looked down with a frown. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again. “…no,” he finally said. “It is not.” He looked up at her again.

                “How normal is it, then? What causes it? Why does it happen?”

                He swallowed hard. “I will be sparing you the details,” he said quietly, and hurried away, leaving a frustrated Tip in his wake.

                “That little-” She took a deep breath. “Alright. Okay. You can do this. Now, where is Kyle?”

 

*

 

“Kyle!” Tip called, and the Boov officer gave her a mild look of surprise.

                “Gratuity, what are you doing here?”

                “I’ve told you, it’s _Tip_ ,” Tip said. “But that’s not it. What causes the cracks? Why does it happen?”

                Kyle widened his eyes in surprise. “He hasn’t told you?” She shook her head silently. “That stupid bastard,” Kyle muttered. “If he hasn’t told you then I can’t either.”

                Tip groaned and pulled her hair. She had to know this. If nothing else, she had to _know_. She couldn’t walk around for the rest of her life, _not_ knowing why Oh had died. “At least not the details,” Kyle stated, and Tip let go of her hair.

                “Tell me.”

                Kyle took a deep breath. “Boov are neutral creatures,” he began. “Too happy or too… sad-ish feelings will have consequences. We can be… trained, to have these emotions –all of the raw emotions, do not put them under an umbrella-, if we feel them often and in small dozes we can take it fairly well. However, if you’re incredibly happy or incredibly sad very suddenly, aka if you feel more than you’re able to, then…” he trailed of and swallowed heavily.

                “Oh no,” Tip whispered, and felt the tears well up again. “Seriously?” Kyle nodded. “He’s dying because he’s happy…”

                Kyle, again, bobbed his head sadly. “I’m afraid so, Gratuity.”

                She fell to her knees and hugged him tight. Kyle was too startled to react. “Thank you, Kyle,” Tip said when she released him. “Is there- is there any way to stop this from happening?”

                “It depends on the feeling,” Kyle said. “Some of the…” He gestured a bit with his hands while he searched for the word. “… _rawer_ emotions are close to impossible to stop if they have first begun. An _umuzwa_ will never heal.”

                Tip frowned and tapped her chin as she thought. “He said… he said that I’m causing it… and that it would become worse if I stayed away from him…”

                Kyle looked on with pain evident in his eyes, as if it physically hurt him to know the truth and not be able to tell her.

                “Captain JLo is a very happy Boov,” Kyle chimed in. “Always has been, always will be. His tolerance for happiness is much higher than most Boovs. I don’t know about his sadness tolerance, though.”

                “It’s high,” Tip said absentmindedly. “It must be. He’s had a difficult childhood. Which means that he tolerates a lot of both. I must make him really, really happy…” Did it make her a horrible person if she felt flattered at that? Like, really, really flattered? I mean, she was blushing while she said it. “And the thought of me leaving him must be worse than his childhood if it would make it worse than if I stayed…” There was a pause, and then a determined spark lit up in her eyes. Tip looked up sharply, meeting Kyle’s gaze. “What are the raw emotions a Boov can feel?”

                He answered immediately to her cold tone. “Sorrow, fear, joy, anger, love-”

                Tip’s eyes widened and she interrupted him by drawing a sharp breath and saying “Oh my god,” flatly. New tears filled her eyes. Again. “Oh my god.”

                Kyle seemed even more pained. “What?” he forced out through clenched teeth, desperate to be able to tell her.

                “He loves me-!” There was a pause, and then Tip screamed in despair. Loudly.

                Halfway through it twisted into a sob. “He loves me…”

 

 


	3. A Heart Like Mine

**Notes:** alright so no one actually told me to have either self _less_ or self _ish_ Tip, so I kind of… combined them? Yayy for me! Not proofread, so you have to suffer through my mistakes, mwahahah!

 

Tip wanted to scream. She wanted to scream so badly, but her throat was already sore and she didn’t want it to get worse. Her legs were going like drumsticks; she was running faster than she had ever ran before. To where she had no idea. She hoped it was towards home.

                _He loves me._

_He loves me._

                She had to tell him that she knew! She _had_ to, he deserved to know. He would die faster, much faster, but he couldn’t die _not_ knowing, I mean come on!

                She sped up, tears stinging in her eyes.

                _He loves me._

                That was why he was cracking up, why he was dying. He loved her- he’d never loved before, he _loved her and if they couldn’t stop this well then let him at least die **happily**_ -

                Yes! There the apartment was! Thank God for muscle memory!

                She ran up the stairs without second thought, slamming the door open. “Oh!” she cried.

                That was when the exhaustion caught up with her. Tip wasn’t a marathon runner. She wasn’t a runner at all, when she thought about it. She couldn’t run fast over short periods of time. She couldn’t run slow over long either.

                She leaned against the wall to her right and slid to the floor as her body collapsed, panting heavily, wheezing and clutching her chest. “Tip!” Oh gasped and hurried over to her.

                _He loves me._

                “Are you the okay?” he asked worriedly.

                Tip nodded. She couldn’t speak. “Ran,” she managed to wheeze out nonetheless.

                “You were running?” Oh guessed and she nodded again. “Why- neverminding. Can I does anything for you?”

                Tip shook her head. Then, after a small pause, she nodded. “Water,” she croaked, and Oh shot up to fetch some for her.

                _He loves me._

She gulped down the glass of water Oh gave her. A few moments later, she breathed more regularly. “Oh, I-” She broke herself off, a sudden pang of doubt running through her. What if Kyle was wrong? What if _she_ was wrong? What if he didn’t love her? Tip swallowed and tried again. “Oh, do you love me?”

                The Boov froze. He slowly turned around and tried to walk away. “Oh,” Tip pled. “Please.”

                Oh turned back towards her and bit his lip nervously, his gaze looking at everything that wasn’t her. Finally, he closed his eyes. “Yes,” he choked out.

                _Thank God._

 _He **loves me**_.

                She reached out after him, and he settled into her embrace willingly, hugging her as tight as his right side allowed him to. “I am sorries,” he muttered into her shoulder.

                “For what?”

                “I was not meaning to falling in love with you,” he whispered, his skin once again turning blue. A new crack appeared, this time on the side of his face. He whimpered in either pain or fright. It could have been both, but Tip wasn’t sure.

                “Oh, please don’t do that,” Tip begged. “I love you, too!”

                The Boov froze and tore himself away from her. “Do not be lying to me,” he said angrily.

                “What?” Tip asked in disbelief, widening her eyes.

                “You cannot be loving me,” Oh protested, stepping away from her. “You are humanspersons. I am not believing you!”

                “Why would I be lying about this?” Tip barked, sitting up on her knees. “I wouldn’t _lie to you about something this big!_ ”

                “Maybe so that I could be happin-” He stopped abruptly and gasped, face going blank and skin paling. “Oh.”

                “You see? I wouldn’t lie so that you could _die faster_ , you doof! I’m telling you this so that you can _know the truth!_ ”

                There was a short, marvelous moment where Oh stood perfectly still. Then he sat down next to her on the floor. “You are loving me?”

                “I am.”

                At her words, that hot pink color appeared on his skin again and he smiled widely. His face cracked up more at the smile though, with that sickening, horrifying sound that would hunt her throughout her life. The whole right side of his face was now a spider web network. He winced and yelped in pain, slapping a hand over his right eye. “Oh?” Tip asked, frowning in worry, reaching out after him. He removed his hand gingerly and blinked up at her. She gasped. The crack went straight through his eye and his formerly blue iris was now black.

                Tip covered her mouth with her hand, horrified tears blurring her vision. Oh took a shivering breath. “There goes my seeing,” he said flatly, turning away from her.

                She grimaced. Seeing him like this was... it was… the worst thing she’d ever seen, the worst feeling she’d ever had. He looked like something from a horror game. Slowly, on shaky legs, she pushed herself up from the floor. Oh shot her a curious look. “I’ll fetch the bandages. These cracks won’t be filled with bacteria shit if I can hinder it.”

                A new set of cracks appeared on his skin.

 

*

 

By the time Tip was done bandaging Oh’s arm, the cracks made it harder for him to speak and smell, as they crossed his mouth and one of his smelling… thingies. They had, fortunately, not torn through his left eye so he could still –barely- see. Summary: they were almost covering his whole face. Apparently, the cracks seemed to be moving _around_ his heart, as if to torture him- they went for his chest, his back, head and legs, but it steered clear of the skin above his heart.

                It was hard for him to walk when they neared the end of the day. That couldn’t be blamed only on the sickness though, part of the reason was that Tip had turned him into a teletubby, wrapping almost all of him in bandages. He didn’t complain, even though the “she cares about me” part caused more cracks to appear as she was bandaging the other cracks. It went fast, way too fast, and in the end Tip stopped because it was only getting worse.

                “Tip,” Oh said when night was drawing closer. It sounded more like Tiph, but she understood what he meant. “I might not be surviving the night.”

                Tip shut her eyes and fought the tears. “I know,” she whispered. “I’ll stay awake or something.”

                “Thanking you,” he murmured, and winced as the muffled sound of cracking could be heard. “For everything.”

                Tip wheezed as the lump in her throat grew larger and larger by the second, threatening to choke her. She bit her lip hard to focus on something else, and Oh clearly noticed her eyes watering. His skin turned blue. “I am sorries,” he repeated. “But- be crying if you are needing to, Tip.”

                She did. When she held him in her arms, she could feel the bandages shifting and moving under her arms as his skin cracked even more. “I love you, Oh… I love you so much.” It was the last straw.

                Oh choked, and his fingers curled around the cloth of her sweater. As he clutched it in his fist, Tip noticed with a sickening feeling that his heart begun to beat unevenly. The steady _thump, thu-thu-thump_ staggered. “No-!” she gasped. “No, no, no, no, _no!_ ”

                She hadn’t actually believed it until now, or maybe it just hadn’t sunk in completely. Well, now it was too late. He was dying. Oh was dying. “Thank you, too,” she hurried to say through the tears that were sliding silently down her cheeks. “Thank you, Oh!”

                “Tip,” he choked. “I- I am loving you-”

                “Yes,” Tip whispered, and placed a hand on his cheek, biting her lip. The other hand rested just above his heart. She blinked hard to get rid of her tears; she wanted to see him, to _know him, remember this **forever** -_ “Yes, Oh, I know, I love you too!”

                She let out a sob as he shuddered in her arms. His heart gave one last, desperate beat, and then-

                it stopped.

                “No…” Tip said. “No, please, don’t die, Oh- _I love you, too!_ ” There was a pause as she fought the urge to scream again. “ _God-fucking-damnit_ ,” she snarled instead, sorrow suddenly morphing into anger. “ _Where are the magical tears when you need them!? Disney, you fucking liar!”_

She was desperate, yes, alright, she wanted someone to _blame_ and right now Disney seemed like a good candidate-

                She stopped that train of thought by pressing her lips to Oh’s with a small, yet bright, hope in the darkest pit of her soul. _Please, please, please-_

                She knew that with a human, that wouldn’t work. But a human wouldn’t die because of love. Heartbreak… well, they could, but love? Not so much.

                With a human, kissing them _would not_ work.                                                          

                _But Oh isn’t a human_ , her thoughts argued. _Oh isn’t a human._

_Please, please, please, please-_

Nothing happened. Tip sat back and cradled his face in her hands, staring down at him. She closed her eyes and inhaled shakily. She knew this. Exhale. She had learning this. Inhale. The problem was remembering. Exhale. Where she’d learned it she couldn’t recall, but the point was that _she knew it._ Inhale. “I swear,” she whispered, her voice barely audible in the empty room. All other noises disappeared; the only thing she could focus on was her own breath, voice and heartbeat. “To Mother Earth, she’ll be our only witness, the only one to see…” She took a deep breath. Her heartbeat made itself known in her hands, she could feel it with every _thump_ - _thump,_ and some deep layer of her mind begged _._ “How much… you mean… to me…” Another deep breath. Tip fought her emotions. _Don’t feel, don’t feel, it’ll break it-_ On a whim, she blurted out with her own little plea. “Please, live, Oh, and I- I’ll be your Princess, your Queen even, if you want me to, I’ll- I’ll be the mother for your children, your best friend, the one you always can talk to-” A third deep breath. “ _So mote it be.”_ Her lips felt cold as she said the words. Cold and stiff, as if someone had held them against ice for too long. Her fingers were in the same condition; cold and stiff. _Thump-thump_ , her heart said as it sped up. _Thump-thump._

 _Thump-thump_.

Tip kissed him again.

                **_p l e a s e-!_**

 ** _Don’t do this to me_** , she begged in her thoughts. **_Please don’t do this to either of us, please, come on, I love him back don’t let him suffer-_**

                There was the tiniest of a _thump_ beneath her palm. She had her eyes closed, so she didn’t notice it-

                but the cracks were slowly closing up.

                **_Please, whoever’s listening, God, Buddha, anyone, I love him, he loves me, don’t take him away from me, please, please, please-_**

Underneath her, Oh took a deep breath.

                And two hearts beat as one.

                _Thump-thump._

 _Thump-thump_.


End file.
